Docs wary of relapse and rising crime

LUDHIANA: As the psychiatrist have boycotted the use of buprenorphine and other schedule- H drugs following the arrest of Dr Ashish Sharma and Dr Sudha Vasudev, there is a lurking fear that the stoppage of treatment may lead to relapse amongst addict youngsters and cause possible rise in the snatching cases occurring in the city.

Mohit Khanna

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, December 25

As the psychiatrist have boycotted the use of buprenorphine and other schedule- H drugs following the arrest of Dr Ashish Sharma and Dr Sudha Vasudev, there is a lurking fear that the stoppage of treatment may lead to relapse amongst addict youngsters and cause possible rise in the snatching cases occurring in the city.

Parents of drug addicts fear that their children may hook to substance addiction again. The anxious parents of many such addicts expressed that the recent crackdown of police has caused a double whammy.

“The state government’s drive against drugs has led to the jacking of prices. Heroin, which was earlier available for Rs 1,000 per gm is now being sold at Rs 4,000 per gm by drug peddlers. Now the doctors have stopped giving us medicines. We cannot tolerate the withdrawal symptoms and left with no option but to again look for drug peddlers,” said a group of addicts gathered at the clinic of a psychiatrist at Model Town. A police officer said stopping of treatment could lead to the rise in crime incidents.

“Majority of the snatchers arrested these days are hooked to heroin or smack. They commit crime to buy their daily dose of drugs. The lurking fear is of those addicts who were receiving treatment. As the psychiatrists have stopped de-addiction medicine, there is a high possibility that the under treatment addicts would turn towards drugs and also enter the world of crime,” said the police officer. Senior psychiatrist Dr Rajeev Gupta said, “The de- addiction treatment or harm reduction treatment costs maximum Rs 3,000 a month to a patient. The cost substantially decreases during the course of treatment. Heroin addicts spend nearly over Rs 1.5 lakh per month. First the addict sells valuables lying at home and then turns towards crime.”

Dr Gupta added that private psychiatrists are doing a great service to society by treating the addicts but unfortunately they are being projected in bad light.

“The state government should work in coordination of private psychiatrists, not in confrontation of psychiatrists. The treatment we offer for de- addiction is similar to what is being followed internationally. The recent action has caused fear psychosis amongst psychiatrists,” said Dr Gupta.

He added that stoppage of de- addiction treatment could lead to serious withdrawal symptoms among patients.

Dr Paramjit Singh Khurana, head Department of Psychiatry at GTB Hospital, stressed that Government should understand that buprenorphine is not a substance drug, but a medicine.